1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric oven, and more particularly, to an electric oven that can distribute heat transmitted from a tray member more equally through food by improving the structure of the tray member.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric oven is generally used for baking or roasting food by heating the food using heat and steam generated from the food and confined in the oven. Therefore, the food can be cooked with a good taste without being burnt or hardened by contraction, which caused when the food is directly roasted by fire.
A typical electric oven includes a cavity in which food is loaded and a door for opening and closing the oven to load and withdraw the food in and from the cavity. A heat source such as a heater is placed in the cavity.
The heater includes at least one of an upper heater mounted on an upper portion of the cavity, a lower heater mounted on a lower portion of the cavity and a convection heater mounted on a rear portion of the cavity.
The electric oven heats the food by transferring thermal energy to the food by turning on one or more of the upper, lower and convection heaters or by alternately turning on them.
A food-supporting member such as a wire rack or a tray having a predetermined thickness.
In order to equally heat the food from an outer surface to a core portion in the electric oven, a variety of food supporting member have been commercialized. That is, in order to enhance the heating efficiency, a heater is mounted on a bottom of a tray on which the food is loaded. Alternatively, a high conductive material is applied on a bottom of a grill plate to uniformly maintain a temperature of the grill plate.
However, when the heater is mounted on the bottom of the tray, the overall weight of the oven increases and an additional terminal for electrically connecting the heater must be further installed.
Furthermore, even when the heater is mounted on the bottom of the tray, the heat is not yet effectively transferred to a core portion of the food, thereby retarding the cooking speed. In addition, the overall heat efficiency of the electric oven is deteriorated.